Broke and still not happy

I should change my subject to,Broke and confused.Some people out their tell me I have really nice gear and it should be ringing my bell, others tell me to sell it.Well anyway I"m not going to quit.I took out the vibrapods and things got more harsh,remember that was one of my problems I"m going to try my old sovteks and see if maybe I have a bad tube.How about suggestions on tube monos.Brand & watts. I play bass in my band, I don"t want to give up the speed & tightness you get with solid state,but I also like the warmth of tubes.I thought maybe with a tube pre & solid state amps you could achieve that,but maybe not.My bass head is a hibrid and works well.

I can understand that. I've never owned tube equipment myself but have heard of people bi-amping speakers using solid state for the low end and tubes for the highs.

I would prefer a solidstate preamp with tube amp, rather than the other way around. That is, assuming ones speakers are "tube friendly." But that's just me.

The problem with highend audio is there are so many routes to take. Yep some are going to say you have good equipment and others are telling you to sell it all, including the room and house. How many of us have identical components? Hardly any. That should tell you something.

Sounds like you may need help with power, resonance control, and acoustics? well maybe not all three. But the happiness seems to lie in the details. I think he's psychic! Do you have a local mapleshade or walker audio dealer? they are usually pretty good with helping you with cost effective and sonic effective tweaks. Just a thought. No affiliation with mapleshade or lloyd walker.

ANALOG, ANALOG, ANALOG !!! Where is your turntable ? A good analog rig will enhance any system. You have some excellent equiptment which deserves a good source component. If funds are a problem, get a VPI scout or Nottingham rig. Make sure that it is on a very sturdy level and HEAVY base. Since you are a musician, I'll bet you have some 2&4 track open reel tapes. Get a reel to reel on Ebay, some factory pre-recorded Reel to reels and be prepaired to be amazed.

Most high end gear IMO isn't great for rock since it tends to emphasize the midrange, and other subtleties that are not mastered well into rock recordings.

If I had it to do over again, and maybe listened a little less to classical and jazz, I'd go with top end P/A speakers and professional amplifiers. Every commercial joint I've been in where I thought "Wow the sound is great in here." I noticed used commercial gear.

If you're into rock, pop, country, etc., I think that's the best bang for the buck, and will get you closer to what you're used to hearing when you gig.